At the request of a certain sister of a certain member of One Direction, I tentatively present my very best recipe: Yum Yums. I’ve got a feeling I’ll have to spend the rest of my life dealing with the health repercussions of this post.

If you’ve not had a Yum Yum before, it’s basically a cross between a doughnut and a croissant. Then drenched in icing. And the ones you bought from the shops may have been the most delicious thing in the world – until now. Thankfully (or dangerously), this method is so very easy. You don’t need to own any special equipment or do any kneading.

500g strong white bread flour

2 sachets (or 14g) fast action yeast

8g salt (or about one heaped teaspoon; reduce if using salted butter)

30g sugar

250g water (a tiny bit warm; weigh out rather than use a jug)

1 medium egg

100g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Oil, for frying

More flour, for rolling

Icing:

250g icing sugar, sifted

60ml (4 tablespoons) water

Makes 14-16 Yum Yums

1. In a large bowl, weigh out the flour, salt and yeast. Lightly rub the salt and yeast into the flour on opposite sides of the bowl, then rub in the sugar.

2. Dice the chilled butter into thin pieces (as shown). Add this to the flour and don’t rub it in – you don’t want it like breadcrumbs. Just lightly stir the butter into the flour.

3.Add the water and the egg to your mixture and mix using a wooden spoon until begins to come together. Then, use your hands to mix until your dough has mopped up all the flour. Cover your bowl with cling film (or a wet teacloth) and rest for at least half an hour at room temperature.

RESTING TIP 1: For a better Yum Yum with more complexity of flavour, rest in the fridge overnight.

4. Once the dough is rested, it’s time to laminate. Flour a work surface and roll your yum yum dough out into a long rectangle. Turn your rectangle so the long side is facing you. Take both ends, and fold them into the middle. Then, close the whole thing like a book (shown). Roll out again and repeat the whole folding process until your lumps of butter have disappeared (3-5 times). Wrap your laminated dough in cling film and put in the fridge for another half an hour to rest.

RESTING TIP 2: 30 minutes is the minimum resting time recommended for a good Yum Yum. For a more open structure, leave to rest here for as long as possible (ie over 2 hours).

5. Once rested, roll your dough out one final time on a floured surface into a big rectangle. Cut into strips of your desired size. To each strip, make a cut down its length, but leaving at least a centimetre attached at both ends. Twist this round into a Yum Yum shape as shown:

6. Leave to rest on an oiled surface in a warm place for at least an hour, until doubled in size. Near the end of the rest, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and water, then prepare the oil

OIL TIP: If you don’t have a deep fat fryer (I don’t), heat a big pan of oil ON A LOW HEAT that’s going to be deep enough to take a Yum Yum. It should be constant at 170-180C. If you don’t have a digital/sugar thermometer, be careful and reserve bits of dough to test your oil regularly to make sure it’s not too hot. Please seek full and proper safety guidance before handling hot oil.

7. Fry your Yum Yums until a golden brown on each side. As soon as they’re done, remove from the oil and brush liberally with the icing. Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before enjoying.

Made these today for the kids but think I'll need to make another batch as the kids didn't even get to see them! Ooopsie :-)Reply

Dominique

November 16th, 2013 18:20

Dough in the fridge, part of me hoping it doesn't work as otherwise I am likely to make them far too often!!Reply

Breadman

December 6th, 2013 16:30

Mr Morton, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recipe. These are indecently good. My girlfriend is lying on the bed cursing me between mouthfuls of yum yum.
If your book contains recipes as delicious and easy to follow as this, it's going on my Christmas list. Thanks again.Reply

There is only one word for these FANTASTIC I have just made them and half have already gone, they remind me of chorizo's hope this is how you spell it in Spain they dip them in chocolate sauce very yummy ,thank you for the recipe Midge.Reply

Stefanie

January 22nd, 2014 18:29

What oil would you recommend for the frying and how much should I use?Reply

shiny4LoVe

March 10th, 2014 16:46

What would happen if I baked rather than fried these? what temperature and how long would you recomend? I was thinking gas mark 4 for about 30mins considering there size.Reply

janet

March 10th, 2014 17:44

see this today and made them very happy my son is a mad about thes and he loved them :)Reply

debbie

August 14th, 2014 19:34

OMG I just made these and I've eaten 6 already...I'll be lucky to have any left tomorrow and I'll have to start againReply

liz

October 11th, 2014 10:58

OMG these are prob the best things I have even made let alone eaten, I made these the other day and took them to work within 2 mins they were gone
brilliantReply

gareth severn

December 3rd, 2014 10:14

Just waiting for the last resting period before cooking these bad boys :) hope they taste as good as they look because already they are looking yum yumReply

Hi James, I managed to laminate the dough before putting it in the fridge to rest overnight. Do you think they will be okay or have I made a terrible mistake? I've made these before and the family loved them.Reply